My powerpoint on the student loan crisis

1. Student Loan Crisis
Adam Musetti

2. The topic I will be researching this semester is the student loan crisis, its origins,
and potential ways to solve it. For a little over a decade now, students have
essentially been forced into taking out extensive loans to pay for post-secondary
education. These unforgivable loans put a severe strain on the financial security of
these students after graduation and make it difficult to make traditional progress in
their personal lives. If the loan system were to be reformed, the cost of attending
college could be reduced and a large percentage of young adults would have a
large burden removed from their lives. This is what I plan on investigating and
hopefully it leads to a proposal for a system.

3. Background Information
Prior to 1978, loans given from the government to students were able to be
forgiven in some circumstances. In 1978, however, the government changed
legislation involving government-based student loans to make them nearly
completely unforgivable. This means that under no circumstances would they go
away. Then, in 2005, this amendment was extended to include all private lenders
as well. Between the rising cost of education and these new rules, it became
essentially assured that students would not be able to attend a 4-year university
without accumulating an equal time of debt repayment, and in most cases more.

4. People Involved with Student Loans
● Albert Lord- CEO of Sallie Mae who has made millions of dollars off lending
money with massive interest rates
● Barack Obama- reduced the cap of loan payments from 15% to 10% of
monthly income
● Elvina Nawaguna- detailed the trends of delinquencies, bank write-offs, and
graduate unemployment in a Reuters article

5. Questions I have
1. Why does the government hate students so much?
2. Would it be possible to change the loan system to prevent universities from
consistently increasing tuition costs?
3. Is there a critical mass where there will eventually be too much debt to
continue this process?
4. Who is truly to blame for this massive crisis?

6. Opposing views
Beth Akers writes in her book that the student debt accumulation is not actually a
crisis but a positive thing. She claims that it is an investment in growth in human
capital. She also claims that it does not affect nearly as many people as some
make it out to. I wholeheartedly disagree with this statement, as just about any
student that goes to university without a full-ride or daddy’s wallet has these loans
thrust upon them. The amount also accumulates to more than is just payable in a
few years, whether you get a well-paying job or not.

7. Bibliography
"Claims of US Student Loan Crisis are 'Fictional Narrative'." The Times Higher Education Supplement : THE.2274 (2016)ProQuest. Web. 9 Oct.
2018.
Razaki, Khalid A., Wayne Koprowski, and Deborah L. Lindberg. "THE STUDENT LOAN CRISIS: BACKGROUND, MOTIVATIONS OF PARTICIPANTS,
AND REGULATORY ISSUES." Journal of Business and Accounting 7.1 (2014): 100-13. ProQuest. Web. 9 Oct. 2018.
Wenisch, Michael. “The Student Loan Crisis and the Future of Higher Education.” Catholic Social Science Review, vol. 17, Oct. 2012, pp. 345–350.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=82459683&site=ehost-live.